David DePape found guilty of five state charges in Paul Pelosi attack

(CNN) — David DePape, the man convicted in federal court for violently attacking House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, has been convicted of five charges in state court.

A California jury found DePape guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment, threatening a family member of a public official, aggravated kidnapping and preventing or dissuading a witness by force or threat. The verdict comes as DePape already faces a 30-year sentence from his conviction last year in connection with the October 2022 attack.

In court, DePape showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read, and his lawyer later said they intend to appeal the case. He is facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said at a news conference Friday.

Before the trial, Judge Harry M. Dorfman dismissed three of the charges DePape was facing, including attempted murder, assault of an elder and assault with a deadly weapon, because DePape’s defense team argued that would amount to double jeopardy. DePape was convicted in federal court last November for assault on the immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official in connection with the attack.

Defense attorney Adam Lipson said DePape was disappointed with the Friday verdict, which the jury deliberated for nearly 12 hours over three days.

“He’s lived a very isolated and lonely life when he kind of just got wrapped up in lot of conspiracy theory-type situations,” Lipson said. “And, you know, he has some mental illness too, so he’s just dealing with that right now.”

“It’s really unfortunate he was charged this way. It was sort of a textbook vindictive prosecution,” Lipson said.

Jenkins said at the news conference that her office charged DePape “with what he was guilty of,” and the jury agreed “as clear by the jury’s verdict.”

“So there is no need for any accusations of vindictive prosecution,” Jenkins told reporters. “We are simply trying to do our jobs to make sure he was held accountable for every act that occurred that night that was criminal.”

Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement Friday that the family is “grateful for the kind thoughts and prayers they continue to receive,” adding, “Speaker Pelosi and her family will refrain from further substantive comment until sentencing is complete.”

A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Federal prosecutors claimed last year that DePape broke into the Pelosis’ home with “a violent plan to kidnap Nancy Pelosi” and “to hold her hostage.” While DePape’s attorney at the time conceded that DePape had attacked Paul Pelosi, she argued that his motivation for the assault did not match the federal charges against him.

DePape testified in his own defense at the trial, telling the jury that he had been looking for Nancy Pelosi and that her husband was not on his list of targets. He was “surprised and confused,” he said, when he found out the congresswoman was not home.

“I’m telling him, ‘I have other targets, but if you stop me, I’ll go through you,’” DePape said, recounting a conversation with Paul Pelosi.

“I reacted. I hit him in the head,” he continued, “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined.”

The morning before the jury in the state case started deliberating, Gypsy Taub, DePape’s ex-wife, was escorted out of the courtroom. She was ordered excluded from the courtroom and the second floor of the courthouse for the remainder of the trial after a judge said she attempted to tamper with members of the jury.

According to the AP, on Tuesday, graffiti from a website Taub runs that promotes conspiracy theories was discovered in a women’s bathroom near the courtroom. CNN observed her outside the courtroom on Monday handing out pieces of paper with a website address that also promoted conspiracy theories. A San Francisco County Superior Court communications representative said they cannot comment on pending cases.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.